


Little White Lies

by SirLadySketch



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Just another introspective piece, Training Adventures with Kairi and Lea, character vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 06:10:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12834960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirLadySketch/pseuds/SirLadySketch
Summary: Short vignette set after Dream Drop and before KH3. Lea and Kairi train during the day, but sometimes they meet up in the night, too. Kairi & Lea friendship fic.





	Little White Lies

So… life at the beach kinda sucked.

Lea hadn’t ever appreciated how uncomfortable sand could be when it got into places where you’d rather not draw attention and you couldn’t shake it off. Or how much hotter the sun seemed to feel when you were training under it for hours on end-- his skin felt hot to the touch, the parts that weren’t peeling off extra crispy layers, that was. And the  _ noise _ ! After years of absolute silence in The World That Never Was, the muted cacophony of a seaside town at night, added to the distant but constant rumble of waves crashing on the surf made it near impossible to fall asleep.

It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d been able to stay asleep, catch a few hours here and there to drown out the noise of the Destiny Trio’s homeworld, but when he did manage to fall asleep, that’s when the dreams came. Dreams, or memories. Sometimes it was hard to remember the difference between the two. But none of them were pleasant, and he usually woke in a cold sweat, his newly reformed heart pounding, eyes burning, sheets in a twist. 

There were nights when he would wake up, still feeling parts of his body dissolve as darkness overtook him. Nights where he could still taste the tangy sweetness of ice cream on his tongue, and laughter echoed in his ears. Nights when he was still Axel, fighting to hold onto everything that helped him remember who he was, even as his entire world fell apart around him, slipping through his fingers. On those nights, he really wished he could disobey Yen Sid’s “Thou shalt not use portals of darkness” rule and run off somewhere, anywhere, just to get away for a little while. 

So he ran to the beach.

And now that he’d truly experienced coastal living, he still really couldn’t fathom  _ why _ Roxas had been so hell-bent on getting there. In retrospect, it was probably the kid’s inner Sora shining through. The seashells were nice and all, and watching the sunset from the shore was relaxing in its own special way. It wasn’t the clock tower-- nothing would beat those memories-- but it was pretty, even when the sun had set and he’d had to row a boat across to the islands in the dark with only the pinpricks of stars to guide him. But he’d been through  _ true _ darkness-- the moon and stars were plenty bright enough for him.

Tonight was much as any other night: it’d been a day of training with Kairi, an evening of meditation and practice summoning his keyblade, and then a few hours tossing and turning to the memories of dying in the basement lab of Radiant Gardens, Isa--, no,  _ Saix _ \-- standing over him, changed and unyielding as the darkness swallowed him whole. Lea had clawed his way out of his blankets and run to the only place he could find a bit of quiet and solitude in a town where everyone knew each other by name.

But he wasn’t the only one with with nightmares twisted from memories. It went without saying that he wasn’t the only one who fled to the island for a moment of peace.

“You’re in my spot,” Kairi said, although there was no heat behind her words. He hadn’t heard her approach, but she showed up more often than not, so her quiet presence was familiar, even welcome. She nudged him over with her elbow, then hopped up on the bent branch beside him when he slid over to make room. She gave him a tired smile, then turned her gaze out to the sea.

“Sleep is for the weak,” he joked, although he could feel his body complaining about the lack of rest. He’d have to try to get some more sleep before they were expected to report in for more training, but he’d learn to make do with what he could get.

“You wanna talk about it?” she asked. The usual query, not a disingenuous bit of small talk, but a sincere offer. It made him smile, though he shook his head.

“Nah. The past is past; planning for the future is tough enough without lingering on stuff,” he said. He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease out the tension that came from perching on the tree trunk for long periods of time. He paused, tilting his head to look at her. “Did  _ you _ wanna talk about it?”

She bit her lip, not answering him all at once. Lea had no illusions that he made for a poor confidant. They’d met when he’d kidnapped her, after all. And while they’d slowly been working past their differences and getting to know each other as they trained, he had little doubt that if there was anyone else on the island or in the town she could talk to, she would. He got it. Him being there to hear her confessions was a matter of convenience more than a sign of trust. He wasn’t going to say no to a second chance at doing the right thing, though.

“I’ve been thinking about what Yen Sid said, last time we talked to him,” she said at last, letting out the words slowly, as though testing them before speaking them aloud. “About how sometimes we can do what we think is the right thing, but it’s not. I think he was talking about Terra, but I can’t help thinking about some of the stuff I’ve done and said since we got back.”

He snorted. “I’d say that everyone tells little white lies now and then to make things easier, but you’re a Princess of Heart. What could you possibly do that would make you feel guilty enough to lose sleep over it?”

“I’ve been lying to my parents since we got back,” she admitted, and when he turned to look at her, she refused to meet his gaze. Instead, she looked down at her hands in her lap, hair sliding down to cover her face as she spoke. “I didn’t want them to worry, so I just… helped them believe something that wouldn’t upset them.”

“If you’re talking about the whole ‘Lea is an exchange student at school’ thing, you really don’t need to fret over it,” he said. “I mean, yeah, I’m older than you, but I could be a University student or something, studying abroad--” he cut off, her words and their implications catching up with him. “You  _ helped  _ them believe?”

“I didn’t want them to worry,” she repeated. “So I let them think that I’d gone on a road trip with Sora and Riku, and that I met you when we were out there. I… showed them pictures.” She caught his frown and held up a hand to forestall any complaints. “It was just one picture, and I’m not as good as  _ she _ was, but… I still think I did the right thing. ...didn’t I?”

They fell silent, each mulling over their own personal demons. Lea spoke again when the silence had stretched beyond thoughtful and into pensive. He cut through the tension the only way he knew how: he laughed.

“If you tell the Master about it, Yen Sid’ll probably give you a lecture about not abusing your powers and only doing things that are meant for the great good. But you know what? Screw him.” She snapped up her head, surprised, but he simply shrugged.

“He’ll walk Terra’s example past all of us for what  _ not _ to do-- don’t do what you think is right, just follow orders and nothing’ll go bad. And guess what? That’s bull. You can be the perfect drone and follow every order you’re given and you still end up with the short end of the stick.”

> _ “Awww’, why do  _ **_I_ ** _ have to take it with me?” Demyx whines as he looks over the day’s assignments, turning an unhappy eye over to his assigned partner, whose face is still covered by the hood.  _
> 
> _ “Because I outrank you and I say so. Besides, boss says it needs experience. Go show it how to dance with water or something.” He might’ve shown Demyx a little more compassion, but showing that you get attached to the others just puts a mark on your back. The people heading towards the Castle of Oblivion are proof enough of that-- and Demyx will be fine, he always is. “Just do as you’re told and it’ll be over and done in no time,” he promises. _
> 
> _ Later, he learns that Demyx died fighting Sora and his friends, a fight that the younger Organization member had done everything to avoid, but, being a dutiful minion, obeyed orders and was consequently obliterated. Axel never did get the chance to invite him to the tower for ice cream. A shame. They could have been friends. _

Lea shook off the memory, jumping off the tree and holding his hand out, feeling the now familiar weight and heat of his keyblade form beneath his fingers. He held it out, pointing towards the horizon.

“We’ve both seen what happens when you follow orders,” he says, voice soft and full of regret. “But we’ve also seen what happens when you break the rules to save your friends. It’s worked for Sora, Riku, and even me. Why shouldn’t it work for you?”

Kairi kicked the air and shrugged, not meeting his eye. “But… I promised never to use her powers again,” Kairi admitted. She tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “Even if it’s for good… I still lied to my parents.”

“I think the truth probably would’ve worried them even more,” he replied, then shook his head. “And while Namine did some awful stuff-- and yes, I helped make her do it, I’m not proud of it, but I admit to it. Anyway, even though Namine initially did stuff that hurt Sora, when she realized that what she’d been doing was wrong, she stopped. She disobeyed orders, and she saved him.”

He gave her a reassuring smile, dismissing the keyblade and folding his hands behind his head. “Besides, Sora is determined to save  _ everyone _ . If there’s a way to help Terra, he’ll find it-- even if it means breaking the rules.”

She laughed at that. “You can always count on Sora to save the day,” she agreed. Lea turned to her and smiled.

“And if he can’t, well, he’s got his friends to back him up,” he said. She looked at him, tilting her head as she considered him.

“You know, he considers you one of them,” she said at last. “One of his friends, that is.”

“Well…” he said, and trailed off, not really knowing what to say. He’d tried the friendship thing before, and all he knew was that letting people in meant more pain later on. And with his newly regrown heart, he didn’t know if he could deal with that kind of emotion again. Not while Saix was still around, and while Roxas was not. 

He coughed, then gestured towards the boats. “Anyway, we should probably head back, try to sleep some more,” he said. “We’ve gotta be ready for tomorrow, I think we’re doing that obstacle course thing again.”

“Nooooo, I can’t take anymore barrels,” Kairi cried, but she hopped off the tree branch as well, walking with him towards the boats moored at the small jetty. She stopped right before her own craft, a small raft bound together with ropes and bedsheets.

“I mean it, you know,” she said, picking up from her earlier train of thought. “You saved their lives back there. And you were best friends with Roxas, so Sora does remember those feelings.” She shrugged, then crossed her arms. “And I understand what you did, why you did it, and I forgive you. I still think you’re kind of a jerk sometimes, but I’d like to think we could be friends.”

He blinked down at her, hand frozen on the rope that tied off his boat. Then he laughed and finished untying the knot, holding it loosely in his hand. “Remember that when I beat your time during the trials tomorrow,” he said.

“Augh, as if! There is no way I’m letting you beat my high score,” she yelled, then jumped into her boat. “And I can make it back to the beach before you!”

He laughed, getting into his own boat to follow her lead. He decided to let her have this one, and her steps seemed lighter as they parted ways once they’d returned to the docks. He wished her a goodnight and pleasant dreams, and promised he’d go back and get some rest too. He watched her leave as he waved goodbye, a genuine smile on his face, but it faltered as he lost sight of her. 

_ Friends _ . There would be some kind of weird, twisted irony If he became friends with the people he’d spent years working against while following Xemnas’ orders. Lea had no doubt that Sora  _ did _ consider him a friend, the kid was far too trusting and willing to believe the best of everyone after their first meeting. Maybe that was the kid’s secret. Not for the first time, he wondered what Roxas would think of his Other’s sunny disposition.

_ Roxas.  _ There were friends, and then there were  _ best friends _ . His heart clenched at the thought of it. He’d live the white lie, becoming friends with the others, doing what he had to in order to survive. Hell, he might actually even like them in truth, Kairi wasn’t so bad, and the others seemed decent enough. But if there was a moment where he had to choose between Sora and Roxas, there would be no hesitation. He knew where his loyalties lay, and he would act with confidence and speed.

Was it still considered a little white lie when you told it to yourself?


End file.
